Drew Gilbert was on a flight to a friend’s wedding in Minnesota on Wednesday when the news broke that Tony Vitello, his head coach at the University of Tennessee, would become the Giants’ new manager. It wasn’t until his flight landed that the Giants rookie outfielder, briefly disconnected from the world, learned that his former coach would become his current manager.

“It’s hard to describe. I feel like I was kind of shaking at the moment,” Gilbert said in a phone interview. “But then, you just kind of want to get to work. That’s what I learned playing under him at Tennessee — he just makes you want to work all the time.”

Vitello, who will be formally introduced in a news conference at Oracle Park on Thursday, will be making an unprecedented leap from Knoxville to San Francisco.

The 47-year-old has never played professionally, immediately transitioning to coaching after playing one year at Division II Spring Hill College and three years at Missouri. He has never coached professionally either, spending time as an assistant at Missouri (2003-10), TCU (2011-13) and Arkansas (2014-17) before transforming the Vols from SEC bottom dweller to national powerhouse.

President of baseball operations Buster Posey has made one of the boldest managerial hires in recent memory, banking on Vitello breathing life into a franchise that has made the playoffs once in the last nine seasons. And of all the players and personnel in the organization, few know better of Vitello’s ability to transform a team than Gilbert.

“It’s obviously a unique ordeal coming from college to the big leagues, but this is my favorite person I’ve ever played for,” Gilbert said of Vitello, who will reportedly make $3.5 million over three years with an option for a fourth year. “It’s not even close. There’s nobody else I’d want to play alongside of, and obviously, I have to earn that opportunity, no doubt. But I’m looking forward to being around him and competing with him.”

Gilbert is one of four former Vols currently in the Giants organization, three of whom joined the organization in July. The Giants drafted infielder Gavin Kilen with the 13th overall pick of the 2025 MLB draft, then acquired Gilbert and right-hander Blade Tidwell as part of the Tyler Rogers trade later that month. There’s also shortstop Maui Ahuna, a fourth-rounder in the 2023 draft.

To Vitello, Gilbert was an invaluable part of Tennessee’s transformation. Gilbert isn’t necessarily the best player that Vitello coached at Tennessee — left-hander Garrett Crochet likely holds this distinction, and Gilbert is one of 10 Vols picked in the first round under his watch — but Vitello credits Gilbert with imbuing the program with an unparalleled intensity and swagger.

“There’s been a lot of good players to come through here, so it’d be disrespectful to say we wouldn’t be as good, but I think the flavor would be different,” Vitello told this news organization in September. “The brand name would be different.”

Tennessee’s collective intensity, passion and swagger are all traits that are a reflection of Vitello. Whether it was crowdsurfing with fans after winning the 2024 College World Series or chest-bumping an umpire during an argument, Vitello has seldom backed away from expressing the spectrum of human emotion.

“Every sport is different, but you think of some of the great coaches: (Nick) Saban, (Bill) Belichick, Pat Riley, for example. What do they all have in common? It’s a high level of intensity and a high standard they hold their players to every single day,” Gilbert said.

Vitello’s energy was unquestionably his calling card at Tennessee, but it’s also one of his bigger question marks as he makes the leap from collegiate head coach to major-league manager. Will Vitello be able to maintain that enthusiasm as he goes from about 60 games in a collegiate season to 162 games in a major-league season? Gilbert certainly believes so.

“He’s going to set the standard, he’s going to set the tone every single day. I know that for a fact,” Gilbert said. “I’m not worried about that. We could play 280 games for all I give a [expletive]. Will it be a little bit of a transition? Of course. Are there going to be some things that he will probably need to adjust on? Maybe, but not necessarily, right? They’re hiring him because they like who he is now. I certainly don’t want him to change a thing.”

There’s also the question of his target audience for that intensity.

In college, Vitello was recruiting and coaching young men who were still coming into their own as both baseball players and human beings. In the pros, Vitello will be managing millionaire grown professionals who are long past their amateur days.

Gilbert brought some collegiate energy to San Francisco’s dugout in August and September, but how does that translate when it drives from the manager? While Vitello can, at times, be bold and brash, Gilbert pointed to Vitello’s ability to connect with any and everybody.

“He’s kind of a chameleon,” Gilbert said. “There’s not really anybody he can’t find a way to talk to or communicate with. He’s intense, he’s super competitive, but a big reason why you see all the college guys who played for him love him is he’s one of the coolest dudes you’ll ever be around. That I see being the least of his problems.”

Vitello’s personality starkly contrasts that of Posey, who has remained perpetually calm, cool and collected since his playing days. To Gilbert, Posey and Vitello have “more in common than people think,” describing both as “highly, highly, highly competitive.”

“Buster wants to win, and he wants to win now. He wants to win every single day he’s at the ballpark. That’s where they’re very similar,” Gilbert said. “Are their demeanors different? Sure, but that’s just how humans are. Everybody has a little bit of a different demeanor than the person next to you, but at the root of it is a competitive drive that has clearly gotten both of them to the spot they’re in now.”

To build a winner in San Francisco, Vitello will leave behind what he created in Knoxville.

Tennessee was an afterthought in the SEC before Vitello transformed the program into one of the nation’s best. Over eight seasons, Vitello led the Vols to a 341-131 record, winning a national title in 2024 and making the Super Regionals on three occasions.

During the Vols’ open scrimmage at Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Tuesday, Tennessee fans implored Vitello to stay with chants of, “We want Tony!” Now, Vitello will take on the challenge of creating that same love and adoration in the Bay.

“If you have been able to be around that guy, you know that it is not an accident what he built in Tennessee,” Gilbert said. “He had kind of built that place from dirt. He takes pride in that, so I know it wasn’t an easy decision to leave Tennessee. It’s a pretty special spot to play at now, and he’s the biggest reason for that.”